Set up a lab to teach ethical hacking class by using Azure Lab Services

Important

Azure Lab Services will be retired on June 28, 2027. For more information, see the retirement guide.

This article shows you how to set up a class that focuses on the forensics side of ethical hacking with Azure Lab Services. In an ethical hacking class, students can learn modern techniques for defending against vulnerabilities. Penetration testing, a practice that the ethical hacking community uses, occurs when someone attempts to gain access to the system or network to demonstrate vulnerabilities that a malicious attacker might exploit.

Each student gets a Windows host virtual machine (VM) that has two nested virtual machines: one VM with Metasploitable3 image and another VM with the Kali Linux image. Use the Metasploitable VM to try exploitation tasks. The Kali VM provides access to the tools you need to run forensic tasks.

Prerequisites

• To set up this lab, you need access to an Azure subscription. Discuss with your organization's administrator to see if you can get access to an existing Azure subscription. If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.
• After you have an Azure subscription, you can create a lab plan in Azure Lab Services. For more information about creating a new lab plan, see Quickstart: Set up resources to create labs. You can also use an existing lab plan.

Configure your lab

For instructions on how to create a lab, see Tutorial: Set up a lab. Use the following settings when creating the lab.

Lab settings	Value
Virtual machine (VM) size	Medium (Nested Virtualization)
VM image	Windows 11

Note

This article references features available in lab plans, which replaced lab accounts.

Configure your template

After you create a lab, create a template VM that is based on the virtual machine size and image you choose. Configure the template VM with everything you want to provide to your students for this class. For more information, see Create and manage a template in Azure Lab Services.

To configure the template VM, complete the following tasks:

• Set up the machine for nested virtualization. Enable all the appropriate windows features, like Hyper-V.
• Set up the Kali Linux image. Kali is a Linux distribution that includes tools for penetration testing and security auditing.
• Set up the Metasploitable image. For this example, use the Metasploitable3 image. This image is created to purposely have security vulnerabilities.

PowerShell

Important

Azure Lab Services will be retired on June 28, 2027. For more information, see the retirement guide.

Prepare template machine for nested virtualization

• Launch PowerShell in Administrator mode. Run these commands.

  Invoke-WebRequest 'https://aka.ms/azlabs/scripts/hyperV-powershell' -Outfile SetupForNestedVirtualization.ps1
  .\SetupForNestedVirtualization.ps1
  

Note

The script might require the machine to restart. Follow instructions from the script and re-run the script until you see Script completed in the output.

Set up nested virtual machine images

Kali is a Linux distribution that includes tools for penetration testing and security auditing.

The Rapid7 Metasploitable image is an image purposely configured with security vulnerabilities. Use this image to test and find issues. The following instructions show you how to set up a particular Metasploitable image. If you need a newer version of the Metasploitable, see https://github.com/rapid7/metasploitable3.

• To install Kali Linux and Metasploitable on the template VM, run the following command:

  Invoke-WebRequest ' https://aka.ms/azlabs/scripts/EthicalHacking-powershell' -Outfile Setup-EthicalHacking.ps1
  .\Setup-EthicalHacking.ps1 -SwitchName 'Default Switch'
  

Windows tools

Important

Azure Lab Services will be retired on June 28, 2027. For more information, see the retirement guide.

Prepare template machine for nested virtualization

Follow the instructions to enable nested virtualization to prepare your template VM for nested virtualization.

Set up a nested virtual machine with Kali Linux image

Kali is a Linux distribution that includes tools for penetration testing and security auditing. To install the Kali nested VM on the template VM:

1. Connect to the template VM by using Remote Desktop.

2. Download the image from Offensive Security Kali Linux VM images. The default username and password are noted on the download page.

   1. Download the Kali Linux Hyper-V 64-Bit (7z) image for Hyper-V.
   2. Extract the .7z file. If you don’t already have 7-zip, download it from https://www.7-zip.org/download.html.

3. Follow the instructions to import a premade Kali image into Hyper-V.

4. The Kali image is now ready for use. From Hyper-V Manager, choose Action > Start, then choose Action > Connect to connect to the virtual machine. The default username is kali and the password is kali.

Set up a nested VM with Metasploitable image

The Rapid7 Metasploitable image is an image purposely configured with security vulnerabilities. Use this image to test and find issues. The following instructions show you how to set up a particular Metasploitable image. If you need a newer version of the Metasploitable, see https://github.com/rapid7/metasploitable3.

To install the Metasploitable nested VM on the template VM:

1. Connect to the template VM by using Remote Desktop.

2. Download the Metasploitable image.

   1. Navigate to https://information.rapid7.com/download-metasploitable-2017.html. Fill out the form to download the image and select the Submit button.

      Note

      You can check for newer versions of the Metasploitable image at https://github.com/rapid7/metasploitable3.

   2. Select Download Metasploitable Now.

   3. When the download finishes, extract the zip file, and remember the location of the Metasploitable.vmdk file.

3. Convert the extracted .vmdk file to a Hyper-V .vhdx file with StarWind V2V Converter.

   1. Download and install StarWind V2V Converter.
   2. Start StarWind V2V Converter.
   3. On the Select the location of image to convert page, choose Local file. Select Next.
   4. On the Source image page, navigate to and select Metasploitable.vmdk extracted in the previous step for the File name setting. Select Next.
   5. On the Select the location of destination image, choose Local file. Select Next.
   6. On the Select destination image format page, choose VHD/VHDX. Select Next.
   7. On the Select option for VHD/VHDX image format page, choose VHDX growable image. Select Next.
   8. On the Select destination file name page, accept the default file name. Select Convert.
   9. On the Converting page, wait for the image to be converted. Conversion can take several minutes. Select Finish when the conversion is completed.

4. Create a new Hyper-V virtual machine.

   1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

   2. Choose Action > New > Virtual Machine.

   3. On the Before You Begin page of the New Virtual Machine Wizard, select Next.

   4. On the Specify Name and Location page, enter Metasploitable for the name, and select Next.

      

   5. On the Specify Generation page, accept the defaults, and select Next.

   6. On the Assign Memory page, enter 512 MB for the startup memory, and select Next.

      

   7. On the Configure Networking page, leave the connection as Not Connected. Set the network adapter later.

   8. On the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, select Use an existing virtual hard disk. Browse to the location for the Metasploitable.vhdx file in the previous step, and select Next.

      

   9. On the Completing the New Virtual Machine Wizard page, and select Finish.

   10. After the virtual machine is created, select it in the Hyper-V Manager. Don't turn on the VM yet.

   11. Choose Action > Settings.

   12. On the Settings for Metasploitable page, select Add Hardware.

   13. Select Legacy Network Adapter, and select Add.

       

   14. On the Legacy Network Adapter page, select Default Switch for the Virtual Switch setting, and select OK.

       

   15. The Metasploitable image is now ready for use. From Hyper-V Manager, choose Action > Start, then choose Action > Connect to connect to the virtual machine. The default username is msfadmin and the password is msfadmin.

The template is now updated and has the nested VM images needed for an ethical hacking penetration testing class: an image with tools to do the penetration testing, and another image with security vulnerabilities to discover. You can now publish the template VM to the class.

Related content

In this article, you went through the steps to create a lab for ethical hacking class. The lab VM contains two nested virtual machines to practice penetrating testing.

The template image can now be published to the lab. For more information, see Publish the template VM.

As you set up your lab, see the following articles:

• Set quota
• Set a schedule
• Add users
• Email registration links to students